1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for inspecting electromagnetic coupling modules and radio IC devices, and particularly, for inspecting electromagnetic coupling modules and radio IC devices used in an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing electromagnetic coupling modules and radio IC devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, techniques related to a non-contact identification medium (e.g., non-contact ID card) called RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) have been rapidly advancing, and the uses thereof have been diversified. In such RFID, a communication distance to a reader/writer, which is dependent upon the desired performance, is defined, and improvements in communication measurements and yield have been desired.
Conventionally, typical radio IC devices used in RFID systems are manufactured such that a predetermined number of radio IC devices are formed on a film base. Each of the radio IC devices includes an antenna coil provided on the film base and an IC module mounted thereon. Before each of the radio IC devices is produced as a single unit, measurements are performed on each IC module and each antenna coil during an inspection process, so that the quality of the product is determined.
However, in the above-described inspection process, the inspection is performed at a stage before each radio IC device is produced as a single unit, and thus, responses from a radio IC device to be inspected and from an adjacent radio IC device with respect to communication from an RFID reader/writer are often received together. This decreases the reliability of the data received from the RFID reader/writer. Furthermore, if the radio ID device to be inspected is defective, data from an adjacent radio IC device may be received and the inspected piece may be incorrectly determined to be acceptable, although it is actually defective.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-99721 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-76947 disclose the following inspecting system. To prevent communication with a radio IC device near a radio IC device to be inspected, a shield member having an opening is disposed between a radio IC device to be inspected and an antenna on the side of a measuring system, and the system-side antenna is arranged to face only the radio IC device to be inspected via the opening. Accordingly, responses from an adjacent radio IC device are prevented from being received along with responses from the radio IC device to be inspected.
The radio IC device to be inspected by such an inspecting system includes at least an antenna and a radio IC chip. The radio IC device including the antenna includes a very large antenna portion, and thus, a space that is substantially the size of at least about one radio IC device is required as an interval between the radio IC devices on a conveyer belt of the inspecting system. For this reason, the amount that the conveyer belt must be moved to inspect each radio IC device is relatively large, the required inspection time is relatively long, and the inspection costs are disadvantageously increased.
Furthermore, the radio IC device including at least an antenna and a radio IC chip requires a process step of mounting the radio IC chip on a film provided with an antenna electrode and electrically connecting the antenna electrode to the radio IC chip. This manufacturing process occupies a significant portion of manufacturing time, which results in increased manufacturing costs.